The Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets put on an incredible basketball game on Wednesday night, as the franchises locked into a playoff seeding battle in the West went head-to-head in a game with high stakes. The Timberwolves were without star Anthony Edwards, but it didn’t ultimately matter as they secured a rollercoaster 110-108 overtime win to improve to 45-28 on the season, creating a 1.5-game gap to the 43-29 Rockets.
This was the biggest recorded OT comeback in NBA history, as the Timberwolves erased a 13-point OT deficit to seal this win.
Jaden McDaniels led the Timberwolves in scoring with 25 points (10-17 FG, 3-4 3P), two rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Rudy Gobert had 14 points (7-13 FG), 14 rebounds, and five blocks in a strong outing. Julius Randle contributed 24 points (11-27 FG) and hit the OT gamewinner to secure this result. Donte DiVincenzo had a good performance as well, ending the night with 17 points (6-15 FG) and two steals.
The Rockets were led by their two-headed monster, with Kevin Durant dropping 30 points (9-22 FG) and eight assists, while Alperen Sengun had 30 points (12-22 FG), six rebounds, and four blocks. Jabari Smith Jr. contributed 16 points (7-15 FG) and 12 rebounds as the Rockets ran out of steam in OT.
A defensive affair was sealed in OT after the Rockets made a series of mistakes to let slip a 10-point lead that became worse when Durant got a chance to seal the game and missed. Let’s take a look at what we learned from this fascinating matchup.
1. Jaden McDaniels’ Offensive Emergence Has Made Minnesota More Dangerous
The Timberwolves haven’t set the NBA on fire as an offensive unit in Edwards’ absence this season, but Jaden McDaniels is shattering the narratives around his play-style. He’s proven he’s not a one-note defensive specialist on the Timberwolves wing this season, stepping up with multiple offensive performances that have been the difference between winning and losing. Tonight was no different.
McDaniels led the Timberwolves in scoring, arguably being the best two-way player on the court tonight. His defense was top-class as usual, but he stepped up to score whenever the team needed him. This was truest in the fourth quarter, as McDaniels contributed nine points (3-4 FG) on a 101.4 true shooting percentage. That should’ve been enough to seal the win for Minnesota if not for Durant’s solo scoring spree at the end of the fourth to force OT.
His ability to stretch the floor and also attack off the dribble was shining through this game, clearly unsettling the Rockets’ defenders who looked like they were one step behind McDaniels in most instances. McDaniels is averaging 14.6 points this season on 41.6% ashooting from three, a career-high year in scoring and three-point percentage.
2. Kevin Durant’s Fourth-Quarter Brilliance Undone By OT Choke
Durant has been getting a lot of flak for his ineffective leadership of the Houston Rockets this season. While there have been bad moments, it looked like tonight would be another signature moment for Durant. Unfortunately, he played a huge role in discrediting his own performance in what was a much-needed win for the Rockets.
Durant had a slow start to the game, entering halftime while shooting 2-11 in the game. He caught fire in the second half, scoring 21 points until the end of OT on 7-9 shooting in that stretch. This included a late-fourth-quarter takeover by the 37-year-old forward, who scored six straight points in clutch time to help the Rockets overcome a 10-point deficit with less than three minutes to go. He undid all that work with just one moment in OT.
As the Timberwolves went on a 12-0 run in OT, the Rockets got a chance to send it to 2OT as Durant went to the free throw line with a two-point deficit. Unfortunately, he missed both free throws in a surprising turn of events for 87.8% free-throw shooter. This one choke cost the Rockets a win they fought really hard for, making multiple comebacks but running out of steam with their star forward at the helm.
3. Timberwolves’ Strategy Without Anthony Edwards Continues To Bring Results
The Timberwolves have been without Edwards for the last four games and have gone 3-1 in this stretch. They have a 112.4 offensive rating in the last four games compared to the 116.0 offensive rating they’ve had all season. This stretch has also led to a 101.7 defensive rating, compared to the 112.4 they’ve had all season. Outside of their first win over the Utah Jazz, the Timberwolves have faced competitive opponents and picked up crucial wins over the Boston Celtics and now the Rockets.
The Timberwolves shot 45-108 (41.7 FG%) and 13-37 from three (35.1 3P%) in this win, showing that they clearly need the production Edwards can add. However, they’ve also consistently been a defensive nightmare for opponents in this stretch, including tonight. They held the Rockets to 38-93 (40.9 FG%) from the field and 9-29 (31.0 3P%) from three in a fantastic defensive display. All the Timberwolves players look motivated to earn minutes and are grinding hard on defense to ensure the team can stay competitive without their biggest offensive weapon.
The Wolves’ defense attacked the Rockets’ biggest weaknesses, which is all they can do when they don’t have the production of an All-NBA caliber player like Edwards, who’s averaging 29.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists this season.
4. Rockets Need A True Point Guard
The Rockets’ biggest on-court weakness reared its ugly head once again in this contest, as the franchise’s uncomposed offense in the final stretch of OT saw the team go ice-cold as the Timberwolves made a comeback. Despite the best efforts of Durant in sharing the ball and trying to create for his teammates, the offense got stagnant multiple times this game and relied on big plays from the likes of Durant and Sengun, especially to force OT in the fourth quarter.
Everyone knows the Rockets lost Fred VanVleet before the season started, but their decision not to have an interim fix has hurt them. Backup guard Reed Sheppard isn’t a high-level NBA playmaker yet, while Sengun isn’t skilled enough as a half-court playmaker to create offensive opportunities for other players on the roster. They had 26 assists as a unit, but their offense continues to look unstructured as we enter the final 10 games of the season.
The Rockets are a bottom-five team in assists this season, with their 26 tonight ranking above their season-average of 24.9 assists per game. Games slow down between high-level opponents in March, and if Houston doesn’t have a solution for half-court creation without VanVleet, they won’t gain enough momentum to climb out of No. 6 in the standings or the first round in the Playoffs.
5. Officiating Mismatch
The Timberwolves will be extra pleased with this win. Not only did they win a key standings battle without their star player, but they also pulled this off in a game where the officiating seemed not to go in their favor. The Wolves went 7-10 on free throws as a team in an OT game, which is a very low number for the team averaging 25.7 free throw attempts per game (fifth-most) this season.
They also saw key bench center Naz Reid be ejected from the game in OT, but the team managed to keep their composure and executed a 12-0 run to end OT and seal the win.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch doesn’t usually mince words when it comes to describing his feelings on NBA referees, so it’ll be interesting to see how he views this clash. The Timberwolves were called for 23 personal fouls compared to Houston’s 15 over the game. Thankfully, this didn’t wind up ruining the result for the Timberwolves, who used their offensive superiority as a unit to edge the Rockets out in what was a slow and hard-fought matchup between the teams.
